The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements
Registered by 
GoryDetails
of Nashua, New Hampshire USA on 10/12/2016
This Book is Currently in the Wild!
GoryDetails of Nashua, New Hampshire USA on 10/12/2016 This Book is Currently in the Wild!
1 journaler for this copy...
I found this good-condition softcover at a local Savers thrift shop, and nabbed it for another release copy.
I first heard of this book via this Unshelved Book Club post. (I also recommend Oliver Sacks' autobiographical book Uncle Tungsten, which features a history of the periodic table along with the personal details.)
There are loads of fascinating (and sometimes horrifying) anecdotes here, and some nostalgia as well - the author opens with a description of playing with mercury from a broken thermometer, back before we all understood just how nasty it can be. [But it's so much fun to play with, she whimpers... {grin}]
The "disappearing spoon" of the title refers to practical jokes made using gallium, a metal that melts at 84 F - so it will be solid at average room temperature, but will melt in the hand. Spoons made of gallium and used to stir a hot beverage - hilarity, yes?
The book goes into the discovery of the elements, some of the entertaining battles over naming them, the way the periodic table itself was organized, the political fallout from some elements due to rarity and/or value (and not just precious metals, here)... and much, much more. Chapters include "tools of ridiculous precision" in which we learn that the ability to measure things may not be as simple as it sounds, and "an element of madness", in which some researchers have become so caught up in the search for a particular element that they've lost all objectivity.
Recommended!
I first heard of this book via this Unshelved Book Club post. (I also recommend Oliver Sacks' autobiographical book Uncle Tungsten, which features a history of the periodic table along with the personal details.)
There are loads of fascinating (and sometimes horrifying) anecdotes here, and some nostalgia as well - the author opens with a description of playing with mercury from a broken thermometer, back before we all understood just how nasty it can be. [But it's so much fun to play with, she whimpers... {grin}]
The "disappearing spoon" of the title refers to practical jokes made using gallium, a metal that melts at 84 F - so it will be solid at average room temperature, but will melt in the hand. Spoons made of gallium and used to stir a hot beverage - hilarity, yes?
The book goes into the discovery of the elements, some of the entertaining battles over naming them, the way the periodic table itself was organized, the political fallout from some elements due to rarity and/or value (and not just precious metals, here)... and much, much more. Chapters include "tools of ridiculous precision" in which we learn that the ability to measure things may not be as simple as it sounds, and "an element of madness", in which some researchers have become so caught up in the search for a particular element that they've lost all objectivity.
Recommended!
Journal Entry 2 by GoryDetails at Little Free Library, 78 Brington Rd in Brookline, Massachusetts USA on Saturday, October 22, 2016
GoryDetails at Little Free Library, 78 Brington Rd in Brookline, Massachusetts USA on Saturday, October 22, 2016
Released 7 yrs ago (10/22/2016 UTC) at Little Free Library, 78 Brington Rd in Brookline, Massachusetts USA
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
I left this and a couple of other books in this charming (though slightly weather-battered), Tardis-decorated Little Free Library on my way home from this Saturday's meetup. Hope the finder enjoys the books!*** Released as part of the 2016 Tick Tock release challenge. ***
*** Released as part of the 2016 Spooktacular Halloween release challenge. ***
